“Three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in the three neighboring countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.” Thus the President of the Norwegian Nobel Committee qualified the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize: the lawyer Belarusian Ales Bialiatski, the Russian NGO Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine. The announcement of the prize, Friday, October 7, notably reacted to two of the three countries from which the winners originate, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the European Commission and France.
The European Commission salutes the “courage” of the opponents “to autocracy”
“The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has recognized the exceptional courage of the women and men who oppose autocracy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted. “They show the true power of civil society in the fight for democracy”she added.
Emmanuel Macron congratulates “unwavering defenders of human rights”
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the three laureates, recognizing their qualities as “stalwart defenders of human rights in Europe”. “Artisans of peace, they know they can count on the support of France”he tweeted about Ales Bialiatskystill in prison in his country, of Memorial, struck by an order of dissolution of the Russian authorities, and of the Ukrainian Center for freedoms.
Ales Bialiatski in Belarus, the NGO Memorial in Russia, the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine: the Nobel Peace Prize honors unwavering defenders of human rights in Europe. Artisans of peace, they know they can count on the support of France.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 7, 2022
The Ukrainian people “craftsman of peace”, according to the Ukrainian presidency
“The Ukrainian people today are the main makers of peace, in which we must exist without aggression”, wrote on Telegram the head of the cabinet of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriï Yermak.
Another adviser to the presidency, however, expressed annoyance that a Ukrainian NGO shared the prize with Russian and Belarusian organizations, because even if the latter are fighting against repression in their countries, Russia and Belarus are allies in the war against Ukraine. “The Nobel Committee has an interesting understanding of peace if representatives of two countries that have attacked a third all together receive the Nobel Prize”commented on Twitter Mikhaïlo Podoliak.
For Belarus, Alfred Nobel must “turn in his grave”
Belarusian diplomacy was much less enthusiastic than some of its European counterparts, denouncing for its part the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Ales Beliatski and his co-winners. “In recent years, the decisions, and we are talking about the peace prize, have been so politicized that Alfred Nobel [fondateur des prix] can’t stand turning in his grave”reacted on Twitter the spokesperson for Belarusian diplomacy, Anatoli Glaz.